Ismael Moreno Pino (15 February 1927 – 15 August 2013) was a lawyer, diplomat, scholar and author who is recognized for his role in the negotiations of the Tlatelolco Treaty, which established Latin America as the first inhabited region of the planet free of nuclear weapons.

Their ancestry can be traced back to the early 13th century and they gained recognition in Spain, Portugal, and Yucatán where family members have held positions as knights, explorers, conquerors, aristocrats, landowners, and industrialists.

This was exacerbated after Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba in 1959, providing no easy solutions for Mexican foreign policy: "wholehearted support for the Cuban Revolution would create an unsustainable tension with the United States, the business community and the Catholic Church; meanwhile, wholehearted support for the United States would provoke an unsustainable tension with the revolutionary government of Cuba, the Mexican intelligentsia and other left-wing sectors which could become radicalized.

"[36] After the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, it became obvious to Latin American and Caribbean countries that they had to protect themselves in the case of a nuclear conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.

By 1963, Mexico sought backing in creating a nuclear-free zone in Latin America from Presidents Victor Paz Estenssoro (Bolivia), Joao Goulart (Brazil), Jorge Alessandri (Chile) and Carlos Julio Arosemena (Ecuador).

Finally, he mentioned that the competition between the Great Powers for supremacy in their nuclear arsenals had "diverted economic resources that should be used to satisfy the most pressing needs of the people.

From its intellectual conception to its signature, the most distinguished minds from the American continent participated in its formulation, faithfully representing a generation anguished by the horrors of two world wars and the threat of a third one [...] incessantly seeking peace and harmony among nations.

"[38] Moreno Pino, himself, later wrote: Concluded in the midst of the cold war, its genesis and subsequent development required a long, tenacious and patient series of negotiations that finally culminated in what U Thant, the Secretary General of the United Nations, described as "an event of historical significance in the global effort to prevent proliferation and stop the nuclear arms race in Latin America," since it came to establish "the necessary statute for the creation, for the first time in history, of a nuclear-free zone in an inhabited part of the Earth.

[47] To this day, Mexico remains one of few countries possessing the technical capability to manufacture nuclear weapons,[48] having successfully achieved the creation of highly enriched uranium.

In addition to the difficulties faced by all newly arrived Ambassadors, I later added the challenge and the opportunity to serve as Dean of the Diplomatic Corps accredited in Chile.

He observed that while a significant and influential faction, led by Alberto Jerez, advocated for bold economic and social reforms, President Frei and most ministers seemed to favor more moderate approaches and compromises with the right.

In an interview held in November 1999, he recalled the events of that year and reflected on their impact on Chile:"At the end of his term, the Frei government called for elections.

Although the Christian Democrats hadn't yet announced their decision, an important sector of the party, led by Radomiro Tomic himself, had shown their desire to respect tradition [...] As more Christian Democratic demonstrations took place in favor of avoiding new electoral phases, and after Allende had received the visit of some Ambassadors, especially from the Warsaw Pact countries, I finally decided to visit him myself in order to avoid the loss of all my authority as Dean.

However, given the Marxist-Leninist ideology of President Allende, the organizing committee for the gala dinner, which I chaired, had to carry out complicated maneuvers to get the event to take place.

"[55]Writing in confidential diplomatic cables to Emilio Óscar Rabasa, then the Foreign Secretary, Moreno Pino raised concerns regarding the Chilean economy, noting that to win popular support, Allende had increased worker's wages by up to 55%.

Emilio Rabasa would later admit to Joseph J. Jova, the US Ambassador in Mexico, that "Allende was a bad administrator and understood very little about economic problems, however, he was a great patriot who wanted to end the oligarchy that controlled Chile.

[64][65] In Chile, meanwhile, Moreno Pino, the career diplomat who was apolitical, was replaced with Gónzalo Martínez Corbalá,[56] a seasoned Institutional Revolutionary Party politician with leftist sympathies[66] who was personally and ideologically close to President Echeverría.

[67] Before he left for Germany, Moreno Pino was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit by President Allende in gratitude for his efforts in strengthening Chile–Mexico relations during his seven years as Ambassador and dean of the diplomatic corps.

[68] During his extensive diplomatic service, he was stationed in Europe (Bonn and The Hague), Latin America (Santiago, Lima, Caracas, and Santo Domingo), and at major International Organizations in Washington, D.C., New York, and Geneva.

Reflecting on his tenure, he would later write:"The eternal gratitude I hold towards those who, besides being wise and respectable bosses during my formative years, knew how to be generous and understanding mentors.

During my diplomatic career, I had the chance to work directly and closely with Foreign Secretaries of the stature of Manuel Tello, José Gorostiza, Antonio Carrillo Flores, Alfonso García Robles, and Jorge Castañeda, as well as with ambassadors of the caliber of Rafael de la Colina, Antonio Gómez Robledo, Octavio Paz, and Luis Quintanilla... the great diplomats of contemporary Mexico.

"[69]In 1990, at the end of his diplomatic mission in The Hague, he was knighted by Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands, who awarded him the Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau in recognition of his efforts in strengthening Mexico–Netherlands relations.

Meade acknowledged Moreno Pino's profound contributions during his forty-year diplomatic tenure, emphasizing that he had played a pivotal role in "strengthening the good name of Mexican diplomacy.

Martínez Cázares underscored the immense significance of Moreno Pino's diplomatic endeavors and cautioned against using the Mexican Foreign Service for mere political expediency.

"Special recognition is warranted for the invaluable contributions made to the Mexican diplomatic bibliographic collection by distinguished compatriots who have wholeheartedly dedicated themselves to a career in the Foreign Service.

Among them, we find notable figures such as Isidro Fabela, Rafael de la Colina, Luis Padilla Nervo, Ismael Moreno Pino, Jorge Castañeda, and Alfonso García Robles, to name just a few.

The author of the work is Ambassador Ismael Moreno Pino, who, in addition to [his] academic credentials, brings to the table a life devoted to Mexican diplomacy ...

It presents, with impeccable writing, a historical perspective of the remote origins of the inter-American movement, taking as its source the Spanish School of International Law.

It examines, in admirable detail, the evolution of that regional organization, with its successes and frustrations, with its legal talent and political limitations, with its capacity to create institutions and norms, as well as its inability to apply them.

His access, and means were now far greater – he photographed a black-tie reception at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, trekked to the foothills of the Popocatepetl volcano, and stood on the frontline of the anniversary celebrations of the death of Emiliano Zapata, the Mexican Revolutionary.